Page 67 of It's About Time
“Okay!” I peer down to where Justin still struggles with the torque wrench. “You gonna be okay while I’m gone?”
“Did you turn into the Hulk overnight or something?” He grunts. “You put this tire on so tight I’m never going to be able to get it off.”
I pat him on the shoulder. “Use your legs to turn the wrench, Justin. I’ll be right back.”
Leaving the shop building, I turn the corner and see the football boys heading out to practice.
My eyes land on my brother and Fletcher, already on the field messing around, and then when I turn to my left, I see Nikko and Elliot again, tying their cleats while sitting on a bench. Not wanting to alert them to my presence, I slip down one of the halls between the two buildings adjacent to the bench, but Elliot’s voice stops me in my tracks.
“Dude, I’m right there with you. I mean, why auto shop? It’s like…the least girly thing she could have picked.”
My throat grows tight as Nikko chuckles. “I know. Like any guy is gonna want to date a girl that knows more about cars than he does.”
“I sure as hell wouldn’t. Trying to talk to her is like talking to a dude, but one that has boobs. She doesn’t know how to have a normal conversation.”
Nikko laughs louder this time. “Maybe that rumor about her being a lesbian is true.”
I peer around the corner just as Elliot shrugs. “I have no idea. All I know is that Dilynne Clark is the last girl on earth that any guy would want to date.”
They both grab their helmets from the bench before jogging toward the field with the rest of the team.
My back finds the brick wall behind me and before I realize what’s happening, a tear slips down my cheek.
“Jackass,” I mutter, swiping my tear away before looking from side to side to make sure I’m alone.
The thing is, I don’t know why Elliot’s words affected me so much. I’ve heard Nikko say so much shit since the beginning of the school year when people started to notice that I was the only girl taking auto shop. But I thought after a month or so, things would die down.
It seems I was wrong because not only is Nikko still flapping his jaws, but now he’s recruiting other guys to talk about me too, and one of them is a boy I never thought would agree with something like that.
Elliot and I aren’t close by any means, but he is one of my brother’s friends, and I did consider him my friend too. I’ve spent so much time around him over the past four years, and not once has he ever said anything to me that made me question what he thinks about me.
I shouldn’t care what he thinks anyway, but hearing him talk about my femininity, and how my interests make me undesirable to guys just doused my biggest insecurities in gasoline.
My dad tried to warn me about the reaction I might get stepping into a male-dominated space. But Elliot isn’t even in shop. Neither is Nikko.
Why are these boys so threatened by a woman and her mind? Or her ability to learn something and be good at it? Even better than them?
Tears are streaming down my face at this point. When I dart to the bathroom to clean myself up, the last person I want to see is in there too.
Tori Michaels’ eyes land on me. She’s standing at the sink, reapplying her lipstick in the mirror and snickers when she takes in my face. “Oh my God.Youknow how to cry?”
I enter one of the stalls and slam the door shut behind me. “Fuck off, Tori.”
“It’s just that I didn’t realize you actually had feelings with all that masculine energy, you know?”
“If you don’t stop talking, I’m going to take out my masculine energy on your face.”
Tori’s evil laugh echoes against the tiled walls. “Homecoming is coming up, so I’m going to have to pass. Quick tip, though…if you blot instead of wipe with the tissues, your makeup won’t get messed up…but you’ll still look like a lesbian.”
I hear the door shut and wait for the quiet to last long enough so that I know she’s gone.
And then I let the sobs out—the ones that no one else will ever hear because keeping my shield up is the only way I’ve been able to survive, and I’m not about to stop that now.
***
Present Day
“We’re ready for you, Miss Clark.” One of the production assistants waves me over to a director’s chair in front of a green screen where they’ll be filming my interview.
